"How she saved me?" Frank questioned, "How who saved me? Who are you? How do you know me?" Frank felt desperate. He thought this would be someone with answers. He thought things would finally make sense. "Please, just help me."

The child raised his free hand and pointed into the darkness. Something moved in the direction he pointed.

Frank took a step back, feeling his heart jump in his chest as the thing moved closer. "This isn't funny!" He looked down, but the kid was gone. "Hey!" His eyes shot back to the thing moving towards him in the darkness. It had already crossed half of the distance between them. Frank cried out, turning away from it and trying to run. He tried, but he couldn't seem to move through the dark like whatever was moving towards him could. He cried out as he felt a rush of air shoot past him. He shut his eyes, preparing for some kind of impact that would follow the wind.

He waited.

He waited.

There was a chirping sound, accompanied by a soft rustling sound.

Frank could feel something solid beneath him. He wasn't floating anymore. He opened his eyes, immediately gasping at the vivid colors that greeted him. Greens. Blues. Purples. Colors were pained across the leaves that hung from tall trees with the skinniest, low hanging branches. Greens and browns melded across the ground, creating a surface both colorful and alive.

It was something that was so different from the Force base, yet so familiar.

"Don't cry, my lady."

Frank spun around at the sound of the voice. It was the kid, but he couldn't see him. As he stepped forward over the ground that squished slightly under his weight, he could hear a soft sniffing alongside the boys soft words of comfort. Frank made his way past a large trucked tree with bark stripped down the base before stopping. He knew this tree... Before he could spend more time on it, however, he noticed two figures sitting on the ground. One was the child who was looking sadly towards someone with long dark hair. A gentle flow of blue and purple leaves covered their frame, leading seamlessly into the ground. Frank tilted his head at the two. Why was it so familiar?

The figure with longer hair raised their head before pulling it away from their face. When Frank saw her, the air left his body. He recognized her in an instant, despite never knowing her. He could see parts of himself in her features that were completely absent when he looked at his father. He could see himself walking through a veiled memory at the sound of her voice.

Frank dropped to his knees, unable to take his eyes away from her. It was as if looking at her was the answer to the blocked moments in his head. He could remember laying in the grass just beside this tree. He could remember the cool breeze of the outside. He could remember faces he didn't recognize before...

Tears began to stream down his own cheeks as the woman smiled down at the young boy beside her. "I hate to ask so much of you at such a young age, Seer. I wish I was capable of it on my own."

The Seer reached up to her face, using all of his fingers to wipe some of her tears away. His eyes flashed a brighter yellow than they already were before he pulled away. "I can help. Don't worry." He tapped his chest and nodded his head. "I can do it."

"It's so much to ask of a child." She smiled sadly at him, "I haven't prepared you nearly enough."

The Seer shook his head. "I can see your timeline so good. You taught me that."

She reached out and took the boys hand, causing him to gasp as the yellow of his eyes flared once again. "This magic is very hard, young Seer. To move yourself between timelines, let alone to take someone with you is... Taxing on a person. If it wasn't for something so desperate, I wouldn't dare ask."

The boy shut his eyes. "It's so bright." He muttered, bringing his free hand to rub against his closed eyelid.

"Young Seer, dear, this isn't as easy as viewing a timeline." The woman brought her other hand to hold around his, "To save his fate, I need to go somewhere else."

"Forever?" The boy reopened his eyes, brows furrowed as he looked up at her. "But... But it doesn't look like that. You guide me. You guide all of us."

"In this and many timelines, it is a task I would never give up." She scooted closer to him as his small lip began to quiver. "However, there's someone else I never saw in my timeline that I have to look out for."

A fear shot across the boy's face. "The bad man?" He whispered.

"No." The woman's word was swift and final, though Frank could feel the heartache in his own chest when it was spoken. The woman sighed, softening her tone when she spoke again. "No, no. He's not coming with us."

Confusion came back to the boy's expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it and shut his eyes tightly. He let out a soft noise of pain as he brought his free hand up to hold against his head.

"I know, it's a lot of magic to hold in such a small frame." More tears were streaming down the woman's face, "You need everything you can."

"It hurts!" The boy squeaked. He tried to pull away from the woman's grip, but she held his hand in hers tightly.

"Focus on me instead." Her own eyes began to shine. A rainbow of color danced over her darker iris. "I can at least take that burden from you."

The boy stopped struggling. He opened his eyes, though he didn't look at her. He looked to the ground as the shifting haze of color fell from her eyes like tears and fell to her shoulders before trailing along her arms to meet at where she held his hand. His head dipped for a moment, as if he was overcome with exhaustion. He managed to straighten himself however, looking back to the woman with a gleam of extra colors in his eye.

"How do I help, my lady?" He still sounded so tired, despite looking physically awake. "How do we keep him safe?"

"We look for something close to our own." She spoke softly to him, though it sounded like her voice was beginning to fade. "So close, that it's like we never left our current timeline. But better. Safer. We'll look together. Just focus all of your magic, Patrick."

The two figures began to fade in front of Frank. "No!" He reached out, propelling himself forward after feeling frozen in place watching the scene unfold. He just wound up on the ground, watching the scene continue to fade to black, taking the figures and the world around him with it.

"Mom, please..." More tears fell from Frank's eyes. It was his fault again. He was who she was referring to... it had to be. Now she was gone again.

A soft groan to Frank's side made him turn. The boy, no, Patrick, was sat curled up in the darkness. He was back to how he had looked on the floor in the cell. He was lifting his head, though it seemed to sit heavy on his shoulders as he struggled to keep it up.

Frank scrambled up, rushing to get to him. "Patrick?"

Patrick looked up at Frank with a furrowed brow. Though his eyes were more focused now, he still didn't seem to know what he was looking at. "My lady?" He squinted at Frank. "No..." He shook his head as Frank crouched in front of him. "No, you're different now." He reached out with a shaky hand that he pressed against Frank's cheek. "But the same magic..."

Frank pressed his hand against the hand that Patrick had placed on his cheek. "I'm Frank, remember me?" He smiled through his tears as he saw Patrick perk up with his touch. "You went into my head under your tree..."

"Frank." Patrick's eyes widened, "Oh... It's so much." He shut his eyes as his nose scrunched. "So much after nothing..."

Frank pulled his hand away from Patrick's. "Too much magic can hurt you." He thought back to the small boy he had just seen with his mother. How bright he had burned with the influence of his mother's... his magic.

"I just don't know where or when I am." Patrick shook his head. "I haven't had anyone... I've just been lost..." He opened his eyes with a sigh. He looked so tired. "I'm still out of my mind..."

"But I found you." Frank let out a laugh, wiping tears from his cheek as Patrick pulled his hand away. "I-I think I found me..." There was so much he could remember. Except... a white mist still hung over pieces of his memories. A figure that was always beside him who's face was always obscured. "I think something's missing..."

"I'm not much help." Patrick held the sides of his head. "It's so hard to focus... there's still so much happening in my head from seeing everything all at once for so long. He knows how I work now, he's keeping me lost."

"My dad." Frank gulped.

Patrick nodded. "Ever since that first jump, it's been hard. That's why I had..." His expression twisted for a moment, as if trying to remember something. "Pete." He finally sighed, "Magic for my magic." His head dropped then, and his body seemed to relax.

Frank shot forward catching him in his arms. Patrick gasped, eyes opening wide and blazing with color once again. "It's so much!"

"I'm sorry!" Frank cried out, quickly pulling away once Patrick was steady.

Patrick shook his head. "Only... Only because I'm like this..." He paused to take a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. After a moment he looked back to Frank. "I had to jump, or he'd kill us."

"I don't blame you, Patrick." Frank shook his head. He could remember the dark scene. He could practically feel the freezing rain against his skin. "I just wanted answers. I was right back to where I started."

"This was the safest." Patrick shut his eyes tightly again. "The safest with everyone alive... Something where everything happened, but he got us all here for his benefit. A good chunk of rebels left on the planet, but us... their leader... here..." His voice was becoming softer and softer the longer he spoke.

"How can I help you?" Frank wanted to reach out again, but he was afraid of putting Patrick in more pain. "I can remember, but I don't know what to do."

Patrick shook his head. "From where I'm at, I don't know." He whispered. "It's all so much." A soft giggle suddenly slipped past his lips as a dreamy smile took hold. "Oh... The beginning of the end..."

Frank was afraid to reach out to Patrick as his figure seemed to become transparent before him. He called out, but Patrick didn't seem able to hear him. He looked down at his own hands, noticing the same transparency beginning to cover him. "No, no, I need o know what to do!" He reached out now, but his hand went through Patrick's arm. "I don't know what to do!"

That same dreamy smile held Patrick's lips closed as they both faded in the darkness. No matter what he called out, Frank couldn't get his attention back. He was already lost again.

Frank let out a gasp as he felt something knock into him, sending him to the solid ground. Solid gray ground. He was back in the cell. His heart was racing like he had just ran laps without pause and his breathing pattern matched. He could see Patrick still on the ground, looking up at the ceiling still, hand waving just like it was before. Turning a bit more, he could see Ray on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

"Are you insane?" Ray hissed. His eyes were wide with panic as he moved to the side and helped Frank back upright. "This one's magic, you can't just go touching them!"

Frank just stared at him. Magic. Just the word made that sensation in his gut dance. He could still feel the tingling in his arm where he had held onto Patrick's hand. He could still see his mother's face...

"Ray..." Frank gulped, feeling his body begin to shake. He had been on the planet. He had held hands with magic users. He was... He was magic.

Ray rose to his feet and extended his hand. Frank took it, though struggled to rise, despite Ray's help. It was like his body was barely translating the information he had just been given back access to. It was so much.

Ray pulled him out of the room and back into the hall. "What's wrong with you?" He asked, looking down at the hand Frank couldn't seem to let go of. "What did he do to you? "

Frank shook his head. "Not him." He barely managed to get the words out. He could feel the concern of the magic inside of him, it was almost overwhelming.

"What do you mean, Frank?" Ray leaned in, concern laced over his features. "I need you to talk to me, man."

Frank shook his head. The words kept getting caught. He couldn't make them come out. He instead squeezed Ray's hand, trying to think of something that would make him understand.

Ray tilted his head, looking unsure, but his attention was pulled away by Jamia hurrying down the hall. Her eyes were wide as she waved her arms, mouthing something to them. Move. Hide. Someone. Coming.

"Shit!" Ray hissed.

Frank sucked in a breath, looking around them. The room across the hall from Patrick's was dark. He pulled Ray in that direction, shoving the door open and ducking inside. The two boys pressed themselves against the wall under the observation window as the door shut softly behind them. The room was dark, but Frank could still see Rays outline against the still darkness.

They sat for a moment, trying to cover their breathing when the soft echo of voices began to travel to them. One voice sounded like Jamia, but the other...

"...Just checking a possible miscommunication in the paperwork, Force Captain." Jamia's voice was cool and calm when her words became audible. "So I decided to take initiative and check for myself."

"I thought you were set to check in on the recent returned Force Soldier."

Frank inhaled sharply. His father was there. Why was his father there? What about the preparation?

"He was resting and I didn't want to wake him, sir, after all he's been through." The words were so smooth off her tongue, Frank could've believed them to be true if he wasn't crouched in the dark to prove otherwise.

"If your forms are correct, I would suggest returning to your initial task." There was an edge to the Force Captain's tone that made Frank flinch. A flash of white crossed over his vision before he felt a pain in his chest. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand to prevent any noise from escaping past his lips and giving them away.

"May I ask for your clarification, Force Captain?" For the first time, there was a slight nervousness to her voice. "It seems we may be one prisoner off."

There was a pause, followed by the shuffling of papers. Ray and Frank exchanged a look through the dark. Frank was afraid to breathe.

Then a laugh carried through the air, making both boys tense against the wall.

"Oh yes, my dear, he can be accounted for. He is just under... Special accommodations."

Special accommodations? Frank's brow furrowed. So someone was missing from the cells. Could it be whoever was consumed by the white fog in his memories? Was Frank the reason he was somewhere else?

A hand slowly pressed itself against Frank's arm. He turned to see Ray with his head angled up, as if he was listening for something. That was when Frank noticed the silence in the air. There were no more voices. No more footsteps. It was quiet.

"Do you think it's clear?" Ray whispered.

Frank turned his head towards the door. He couldn't be sure, despite the silence. He extended his hand towards the door, but didn't reach for the handle yet. He instead let out a slow breath, trying to picture the hall outside. He could feel a tingling sensation move through his arm and into his fingertips. He could practically feel it drip from his skin as it inched its way under the door to look for him. He shivered as he felt it return, bringing a feeling of confidence to Frank's chest. "We're clear."

Frank stood, to Ray's soft protest and opened the door.

There was no one there.

"Frank!" Ray hissed as he climbed to his feet, "What was that? That was way too risky!"

Frank wasn't listening, however. He was looking down at his hands. He could see a faint, dark mist swirling around his fingers. He could hear a dull whispering in the back of his head. He could feel the magic within him. "Magic suppression..." He whispered to himself, remembering the first stabbing pain in his chest... Then the little white pills. "Suppressing my memories and magic..."

"What?" Ray stepped beside him, confusion on his face.

Frank turned to look at him, shaking his head. "I have so much to explain to you."